familial entropy

In 1995, the UNESCO declared the 23rd of April as the International Day of the Book. In order to promote that day and to promote reading, the initiative “Blogger schenken Lesefreude” (Bloggers passing on the joy of reading…rough translation) calls for bloggers to raffle off books they enjoyed.

When I saw this project, I thought I might join too since books play a rather important role in our life. Both Karsten and me love reading and it was one of the first topics that we talked about before we even got together. In fact, one of our first emails was about how great it is to sit in front of a fireside drinking hot chocolate and reading a good book. The book we talked about in that email was “The 13 ½ lifes of Captain Bluebear” by Walter Moers – still one of our all-time favourites. It’s full of adventures, fun and excitement and it’s incredible that a person can channel so much imagination in one book. It’s one of these books that you read several times, again and again, and you never get tired of it. And it’s one of the books that we both love. Because when it comes to books, we do have quite a different taste.

When Karsten first told me about the books he loves, I thought this guy is just showing off…Hesse? Dumas? Hugo? Tolstoi? What 21-year-old guy actually reads these books and admits it? (that was, by the way, one of the first reasons why I fell in love with him). Karsten loves classics but also modern books, preferably Japanese, and socio-critical books. When I asked him whether there is a book he really loves and that he wants to raffle off in order to create “Lesefreude” he immediately declined. Which I should have foreseen. First of all, for Karsten books are sacred. He has to own them, not borrow, and therefore if he loves a book he would never ever give it away (sorry, dear reader…). And secondly, as he correctly stated, his books are normally pessimistic and therefore don’t create direct happiness so they don’t qualify for this project (according to him. I suspect the second one to be linked to the first one).

I, on the contrary, like a little bit of everything. I like classics, I like socio-critical books. But I also love phantasy books (which Karsten hates), I enjoy historic novels if properly researched, I like detective stories and I very much appreciate well-written children books. I like having a library pass and when I travel and I have finished a book, I exchange it for a new one instead of keeping it.

Since the little one was born, we don’t have as much time for reading as before. Logically. But we still manage to read every now and then. When the little one was born I used the breastfeeding breaks for reading and I actually managed to read a lot. It’s been a bit more difficult right now. But I got used to carrying a book in the stroller bag, so whenever she is still sleeping after a walk, I can sit down and read a few pages.

So both Karsten and I were thinking which book we could use for the raffle and we decided to go with Winnie the Pooh (in English)! Another book both of us thoroughly enjoyed and which has its fixed spot in our bookshelves. It is one of these children books which is nice for children but shows a completely new level when you read it again as an adult. It is one of these books where we laughed so hard we cried (literally!). Also because you can identify yourself with the characters (I guess there is a little bit of Eeyore in everyone…). And that’s why we put it in the raffle. As you might guess, we are not giving away our own book – we bought a new one for you. 🙂

So, here is the deal! For you to take part in the raffle, you have to leave a comment and tell me one of your all-time favourite books. One that you read again every now and then and that you don’t get tired of. One that has touched you somehow.

(And don’t worry: you don’t have to be registered to write comments. All you need is your email address).

We are looking forward to your recommendations!!